Harbor whatever feelings you want about interleague action, those aren't likely to change to anytime soon.

But if you're a baseball fan and
aren't anxiously counting down the minutes until tonight's Red Sox-Phillies
game, then you probably need to get your pulse checked.

The two juggernauts of baseball, both projected to be in the
World Series, with two pitchers having historically good seasons on the mound
-- what more could you possibly want?

David Ortiz at his natural position? Games like this more than
makeup for all the other misgivings of Bud Selig's experiment.

The Red Sox feature the major's most productive offense,
while the Phillies are owners of its lowest ERA. That juxtaposition will be
under a microscope all week, but for now it's all about pitching.

Jeremy Lundblad of ESPN Boston says that tonight's pitching matchup between Josh Beckett, who leads the majors with a 1.86 ERA, and
Phillies starter Cliff Lee, who has allowed only one run in his last 33
innings, holds historical context.

Two
opposing starters, both coming off shutouts. That's something the Red Sox
haven't seen in a very long time.

On October 2, 1988, Mike Boddicker started the season finale for the Red Sox
against the Indians. Three days earlier, he threw a three-hit shutout that
clinched at least a tie for the AL East title. In the finale, he was opposed by
Tom Candiotti, himself coming off a shutout against the Tigers.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that was the last time the Red Sox played
a game in which both starters were coming off a shutout. With nothing to play
for, Boddicker pitched just two innings, as Joe Morgan used six pitchers in the
6-5 loss."

Lundblad
also notes that if Beckett can maintain his 1.86 ERA, it'd be the lowest by a
Red Sox pitcher through June since Pedro Martinez finished the month at 1.44 in
2000.

As
bright as the sporting world's lights will shine on this series, Gordon Edes
says that Boston needs to worry about playing good baseball again after
losing series to San Diego and Pittsburgh, not measuring where they stand
against the Phils.

"World Series preview?
The Sox at the moment resemble a team that, if faced with the same rules of
survival as John W. Henry's Liverpool soccer team, would be more concerned with
avoiding relegation than advancing in the postseason.

"But Terry Francona, who this week returns to
the city where he cut his big league managerial teeth, long ago learned the
difference between permanent suffering and temporary misery, and the current
condition of the Sox falls in the latter category."

Other notes:

The Portland Press-Herald has Junichi Tazawa getting lit up
for six runs in 2/3 of an inning Monday night in his first start of the season
with Double-A Portland after having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last April.